Architect and designer · Spain / Argentina · 1913-1989
Antoni Bonet i Castellana Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Catalan architect and designer (1913-1989) who worked for Le Corbusier, co-designed the BKF chair in Buenos Aires and built La Ricarda in El Prat.
Image: La Ricarda House or Casa Gomis, from the ArchEyes article
Biography
Antoni Bonet i Castellana (1913-1989) was a Catalan architect, urban planner and designer who carried the modern movement between Europe and South America. After working with Le Corbusier and GATCPAC, he emigrated to Argentina, where he co-designed the BKF butterfly chair and built houses in Argentina and Uruguay, and on his return to Spain he completed La Ricarda, a masterpiece of Catalan modern architecture.
Barcelona and Paris
Bonet was born in Barcelona in 1913 and studied at the Barcelona School of Architecture. He worked with Josep Lluís Sert and GATCPAC and, in 1936 and 1937, in Le Corbusier’s studio in Paris, where he collaborated on the Spanish Pavilion of 1937.
Argentina and Uruguay
In 1938 he moved to Buenos Aires. With Jorge Ferrari Hardoy and Juan Kurchan he designed the BKF chair and founded Grupo Austral. He built houses at Punta Ballena in Uruguay, the Casa Berlingieri (1947) and the Dirección Matanza housing project in Buenos Aires.
Return to Spain
From the 1950s he worked between Argentina and Spain. La Ricarda, the house for the Gomis family in El Prat de Llobregat (1949-1963), with its vaults set in a pine forest by the sea, the Raventós House in Calella, the Meridiana Greyhound Stadium and the Urquinaona Tower in Barcelona followed. He died in Barcelona in 1989.
Modernity for the Masses: Antonio Bonet’s Dreams for Buenos Aires
Ana María León’s study of Bonet’s urban and housing projects in Buenos Aires and his ideas of modernity for all.
View on Amazon
Timeline
- 1913Born in Barcelona.
- 1936Works in Le Corbusier’s studio in Paris.
- 1938Moves to Buenos Aires; designs the BKF chair with Ferrari Hardoy and Kurchan.
- 1947Casa Berlingieri, Punta Ballena.
- 1963La Ricarda, El Prat de Llobregat, is completed.
- 1971Urquinaona Tower, Barcelona.
- 1989Dies in Barcelona.
Best Books on Antoni Bonet
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Antoni Bonet known for?
Antoni Bonet i Castellana is known for co-designing the BKF butterfly chair, his houses in Argentina and Uruguay and La Ricarda in El Prat de Llobregat.
What is the BKF chair?
A sling chair of leather or canvas on a steel frame, designed in Buenos Aires in 1938 by Bonet, Juan Kurchan and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, also known as the butterfly chair.
What is La Ricarda?
A house for the Gomis family in El Prat de Llobregat, near Barcelona, built from 1949 to 1963 with light vaults among pine trees by the sea.
What is the best book on Antoni Bonet?
Modernity for the Masses by Ana María León (University of Texas Press) studies his work in Buenos Aires.
